Martha Dalton, a lobbyist for Palantir whose firm Lodestone worked for the controversial data analytics company in 2024 and 2025, played a senior role in helping Andy Burnham become prime minister, it has emerged. The connection places renewed scrutiny on the Labour government as it faces intense public and political pressure to scrap Palantir’s £330m contract to run NHS England’s federated data platform, theguardian.com reported.
Palantir Lobbyist Campaigns For Burnham After Promoting AI In Parliament
Dalton co-founded the public relations and lobbying firm Lodestone, which worked for Palantir on projects that included promoting its software at events in parliament. During these sessions, company engineers demonstrated artificial intelligence-powered systems to Members of Parliament for potential use across British public services, theguardian.com reported. Dalton campaigned for Burnham in the Makerfield byelection that secured his return to parliament.
Following her work on the leadership campaign, Dalton also contributed to the autumn 2025 deputy leadership campaign for current Education Secretary Lucy Powell, a few months after Lodestone ceased its work with Palantir.
Growing Labour Ties To Peter Thiel-Backed Tech Firm Face Parliamentary Pressure
The revelation of Dalton’s campaign role highlights links between the Labour government and Palantir, a defense and intelligence contractor co-founded by billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel. Palantir has been supported by politician Peter Mandelson.
These political entanglements coincide with fierce resistance to Palantir’s healthcare contracts. Protesters, patients, and health workers gathered across England in over 40 demonstrations demanding an end to the firm’s role in the National Health Service, morningstaronline.co.uk reported. Campaign groups including Medact, Global Justice Now, Keep Our NHS Public, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and We Own It coordinated actions outside Palantir’s London headquarters and various regional hospitals, delivering a giant “contract terminated” poster.
Opponents point to Palantir’s corporate engagements outside of healthcare, including its software development for the Israeli military in Gaza and Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations in the United States. Louis Mosley, Palantir’s executive vice-president for the UK and Europe, defended the technology by stating it was used to locate hostages rather than identify military targets. However, that assertion appeared to contradict remarks made by Chief Executive Alex Karp, who when challenged last year by a protester regarding civilian casualties in Gaza, replied, “Mostly terrorists, that’s true,” according to theguardian.com.
Legal Battles And Data Privacy Objections Mount Ahead Of NHS Break Clause
Public pushback against the £330m Federated Data Platform (FDP) contract has intensified through formal legal channels. More than 44,000 individuals have filed legal objections under data protection laws to prevent their personal health information from being shared with or stored in the Palantir-powered system, news.az reported. The coordinated effort requires NHS trusts to halt the processing of objecting patients’ data unless they can demonstrate a compelling justification to continue.
Controversy has also enveloped advocacy groups scrutinizing the deal. The Good Law Project published a social media video featuring a parody of NHS flyers warning of an “infection” represented by Palantir, prompting the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to issue a letter demanding the removal of the NHS logo. The Good Law Project rejected the demand, characterizing the government’s legal warning as an inappropriate attempt to suppress criticism of the healthcare contract, goodlawproject.org reported.
Palantir has defended its performance inside the health service, releasing figures indicating that NHS trusts utilizing the FDP recorded 117,000 additional operations, a 14.3% drop in discharge delays for long-stay patients, and a 5.6% improvement in cancer result turnaround times. Conversely, critics argue that the platform’s utility is overhyped and that the government should exercise an upcoming break clause in February 2027 to pivot toward publicly developed alternatives, such as software engineered independently by Manchester NHS.
Protesters Use Data Protection Rights Against Palantir Contract
What specific data protection rights are protesters using against the Palantir NHS contract?
Campaigners are invoking individual rights under UK data protection legislation to file formal legal objections, which legally compel health authorities to stop using a patient’s personal data unless a compelling reason for processing can be proven, news.az reported.
How has Palantir responded to criticism regarding its software performance in hospitals?
Palantir executive Louis Mosley dismissed detractors as suffering from “Palantir derangement syndrome,” while the company published internal data showing that participating trusts achieved 117,000 additional operations and reduced patient discharge delays by 14.3%, theguardian.com and news.az reported.
What is the status of the government contract and upcoming decision points?
The £330m Federated Data Platform contract features a scheduled break clause in February 2027, giving the Labour government under Andy Burnham mounting political impetus from parliamentary select committees and public petitions to terminate the agreement, theguardian.com and news.az reported.
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